The Shenendehowa football team knows what Christian Brothers Academy is going through.
After a rebuilding year that saw the Plainsmen finish with a 3-6 record, Shen showed what experience can do as it dominated the defending class AA Super Bowl champions 45-7 Friday in Colonie.
The Brothers (0-1) are rebuilding this season with a new coach, a new quarterback and several new skill players. And at first, it looked like CBA could hold its own with Shen. But the Plainsmen scored 38 unanswered points to pull away.
First games are fascinating because everyone’s undefeated, said Shen coach Brent Steurwald. `It’s a super lift for our season to get off with a good win. It gives us a chance to build on it. Coming down and beating the defending Class AA champions is a big step.`
`We did some good things in the first quarter and then it kind of got away from us,` said first-year CBA coach Matt Gormley. `When you’re going against a team like Shen, you can’t let things get away from you.`
The Plainsmen (1-0) got on top early with a 15-yard touchdown run by Patrell Brown. Seth Watson’s extra point made it 7-0.
The Brothers tied the game later in the first quarter. A 40-yard run by sophomore Jack Reilly set up junior quarterback Andrew Vivian’s 10-yard touchdown pass to senior Anthony Camuglia. David Agan’s extra point tied it at seven with 4:43 left. Senior Darrell Evans put Shen ahead for good with a 36-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. Watson’s extra point made it 14-7.
The Brothers had a chance to tie it after a high snap on a punt was recovered by Camuglia on Shen’s 16-yard line. Three plays later, though, a lateral was fumbled in the backfield, and a Shen recovery brought the ball to the CBA 26. The recovery set up Charles Miller’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Peter White that made the score 21-7.
Mike Daly extended the lead later in the second quarter by intercepting a Vivian pass and returning it 52 yards for a touchdown. Watson added a field goal with 1.1 seconds left before halftime to make the score 31-7.
Evans recorded his second touchdown of the game with a 10-yard run late in the third quarter. Senior Jason Bedard then capped the scoring with a 7-yard touchdown run.
Bedard had 124 yards on 20 carries, and Evans finished with 75 yards on seven carries for the Plainsmen, who accumulated more than 200 rushing yards.
`We had a good stable of backs, and every one of those kids showed up and played pretty well tonight,` Steurwald said.
Shen hosts Albany Friday night, while CBA travels to Saratoga.
`Saratoga’s very good. They’ve got a lot of good skill guys, and they’re big up front,` said Gormley. `We’ve got our work cut out for us this week in trying to get ready for them.`
Steuerwald doesn’t want his team to rest on its laurels after knocking off the defending champions.
`I want them to move forward. You can sit and enjoy this for about three hours and then start looking forward to what you’re going to see next week,` he said.“